iHave Another Sister?
by idontcarewhatyousay
Summary: A strange girl shows up on Carly's doorstep one day, claiming to be Sam's sister. There isn't much else that I can say here because I don't even know everywhere that this story is going. The rating may be M later. Maybe a little OOC.
1. iMeet Her

**A/N: Warning: This is my first story, so be nice. But not too nice. I like constructive criticism.**

**The only part of this I own is Danica, who is loosely based on me. At least in appearance and demeanor.**

It was a normal day in the Shay apartment. Carly was watching re-runs of Girly Cow. Freddie was researching new recording equipment. Spencer was making another obnoxious sculpture. Sam was asleep on the couch, an empty bucket of fried chicken in her arms.

No one was really paying attention to anyone else. All was as it should be.

There was a knock at the door. "Hey Carls, could you get that? I'm a little busy here," Spencer yelled from the kitchen, where he was dangling from the ladder, trying to reach the top of the giant toilet he was making out of toothbrushes.

"Sure," Carly replied, pushing the sleeping Sam's feet off of her lap so she could get up.

"I promise, I didn't do it," Sam woke with a start.

Carly opened the door to a small, yet solid, teenage girl standing in the doorway. The girl had short brunette hair framing a slightly oval face. She was wearing no-rim glasses, which added to the intelligent gleam she had in her eyes: eyes of a nature that made them seem to be different colors from different angles. She was about 5' 4", and about 120 pounds. She didn't look like much, but you could tell by her demeanor that she could hold her own. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans with a western-style belt and a pair of black cowgirl boots, a lightweight black jacket hanging off her broad shoulders. She had an acoustic guitar in a gig bag slung over one shoulder and a duffel bag at her feet.

The sight of a new person at the door threw Carly off. "Uh, may we help you," she managed to get out after the initial shock.

"Yes, you can. My name is Danica. I'm looking for Sam Puckett. I went by her place and her mom said that she would be here."

At the mention of her name, Sam got up off the couch and moved into view. "I'm Sam. What do you want? I don't have any warrants right now."

Danica took in the appearance of the blonde, noting the fighting stance that she was taking, probably without even realizing it. She smiled at herself as she noted the habit.

"My name is Danica. Danica Hawk. I came from Texas to meet you. I'm your sister."

Sam's mouth fell open. "Is this a joke? Are you some sort of crazed iCarly fan that's just trying to get to hang out with us? If so, it won't work. Our crazy fans have a habit of disappearing, if you get what I mean."

Danica started going through her duffel bag. "Hold on a minute. I have proof. Dad gave me this not too long ago. He said your mom sent it to him not too long after he left, along with your new address. He never told her he got it. He said he thought that it would be better for her to think that it got lost in the mail, than for her to think that he was ignoring his children to, well… Take care of his other child."

Danica held out an old faded photograph. It was the unmistakable Pam Puckett, holding two identical blonde-headed new-born girls.

"What the… So are you saying that you're the reason dad left?"

Sam practically shouted the last few words, rearing back to punch Danica in the face. As she swung, though, something unexpected happened. Danica reached up and grabbed Sam's hand, stopping it mid flight. Freddie looked on from where he was now standing, behind Carly. He breathed a nearly silent "Wow" as Sam stared at her fist suspended about a foot from Danica's nose, a dumbfounded look on her face.

Before Sam could gather herself and react, Danica said, "No, I'm not the entire reason he left. He met my mom after he left. By the time he got the picture, mom was pregnant. He was going to do the same thing to us as he did to you guys. He was going to stay through the pregnancy, see if it was a boy, and jet at the first opportunity if I wasn't. Unfortunately for him, my mom got really sick before he could pull his disappearing act. She died before I was one. Without any family to leave me with, dad had to raise me."

"Oh," was all Sam could reply, putting her hand back down by her side. "Sorry I almost hit you."

"It's Ok," Danica responded. "I probably would've reacted the same way. Must be something that came from Dad."

"Yeah, so… If you were so happy living with him, why did you come all the way here from Texas just to meet me?"

At that moment, all the cool demeanor was washed from Danica's face, and everyone in the apartment saw the girl for what she really was: broken and scared.

"I came," Danica started, her voice husky with the tears brimming over in her eyes, "I came because Dad died, and now I'm homeless."

**Sorry it was kind of short. Review to your hearts content. If you have any ideas for the adventures of the iCarly gang with their new tagalong, let me know! But there are a few things planned that I will not change under any circumstances.**


	2. iLet Her Stay

**So. Second chapter already. I was going to wait until I got a few more reviews, but I'm very impatient. Plus, I already had it written before I posted the first chapter. I like to stay ahead of the game.**

"Oh… I'm… I'm sorry," Sam stuttered, the shame she felt over her reaction written clearly across her face. "I… Wow. Dad's dead. I always hoped that maybe he would come back one day and help me and Mom and Melanie out. That maybe having him back would make Mom less crazy," she said, a crestfallen look on her face.

Danica wiped a few tears from her eyes, and giggled. "That wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have been able to help y'all. He was a drunk. He wasn't very, uh, fun to live with at all. It was just a place to stay while I went through school."

Carly shook herself out of the shock of the moment and realized how rude she was being. "Why don't you bring your stuff in. You've traveled a long way. By the way, my name's Carly, this is Freddie, and the crazy tall dude over there is my brother, Spencer."

Danica picked up her bag and deposited it inside the door along with her guitar. "Thanks. I don't wanna intrude, but is there anyway that I could get something to eat? I haven't eaten in two hours."

Freddie laughed. "There's no doubt in my mind that she's your sister, Sam."

"Shut up, Benson," Sam replied, giving him a death glare. "So, Danica. How exactly did he die?

Danica sat down on the couch, a look of pain crossing her face for a brief moment. "His liver failed. Like I said, he was an alcoholic. He ended up with liver cancer. When he found out he was dying, he spent all his money on a new car instead of taking chemo. I ended up with the car. And a few thousand bucks. The bank took the house. I barely had two days to get all my stuff out. Everything that I own is packed in the back of my fully-paid-for Cadillac Escalade."

Carly brought Danica a large ham sandwich and then sat on the couch beside her. "So where are you going to stay?"

"I don't know. I've been sleeping in my car. Do you know of any good hotels around here? And by good, I mean cheap. Most of the money my dad left me was spent on food and gas on the way here."

Sam piped up, saying, "No sister of mine is going to stay in a hotel. But you can't stay with me at my mom's house either. Carly? Can she stay with you?"

"I don't know. Can she Spence?"

"Sure, she can. She's my other little sister's little sister. I'm not going to let her live out on the street. She can sleep on your couch till we can get a new bed to put in your room, Carls."

"Thanks. You guys didn't have to do that. You're just going to let a stranger show up on your doorstep, with no proof but an old photograph, just waltz right in and sleep on your couch?" Danica looked surprised at the offer, as anyone would. Carly and Spencer just smiled.

"You aren't a stranger," Carly said. "You're my best-friend's sister, which means that, by extension, you are like my sister. At least, you will be after a few days here."

"Wow. I don't think that I've ever met anyone this nice before."

At Danica's statement, Freddie piped up, "Well, then you better not get to know your sister too well. She might just ruin that image of friendliness," he finished with a laugh.

"It wouldn't surprise me. It would just mean that she's like Dad. She has his eyes. It's only appropriate that she has his mean streak. His friends used to call him Ice Cube because he would give people the cold shoulder so much. And because of his icy-blue stare. Stupid nickname, really."

"Dad had blue eyes?" Sam sounded so much like a wounded little kid asking questions about a parent that they would never meet, that it took a second for Carly and Freddie to realize that it was she who had spoken.

"Yep. From that punch you tried to land earlier, it looks like you got some of his strength, too. Lucky for me, so did I. The only other thing I got from him is my dark hair that doesn't seem to want to obey. Other than that, all my other traits come from my mom."

"Like what?" Carly was intrigued with learning more about this girl that they were going to let sleep on her couch.

"I got her height. And her hazel eyes. Oh, and I definitely got her brains. I'm… What?… A year younger than you guys? But I've already graduated from high school."

Freddie laughed. "Man, Sam, some things she's just like you, other things, she's your polar opposite." As he spoke, Sam threw a pillow straight at Freddie's head, but Danica reached out and caught it just before it made contact with Freddie's face, about a foot above her right shoulder where he was standing behind the couch. He looked at the pillow for a second, looked around the room at the others, and said, "I think I could get used to having her around."

**I already have the third chapter written. It's a little longer than the first two. If you really want it, you have to review. No review, no update. At least until I give in to my primal writer's urges to get my work out there…**


	3. iCelebrate

**Like I promised, this chapter is longer than the first two. Hope you enjoy.**

After Danica finished her sandwich, Carly took the plate from her and took it to the sink. She turned to Freddie and said, "Why don't you grab Danica's bag and we can show her up to where she'll be staying."

At the prompting from Carly, Freddie jumped up and grabbed the bag from where it had been lying by the door. Danica got up and grabbed her guitar and followed him up the stairs, Sam and Carly not too far behind.

They got up to Carly's room, and Danica looked around in awe, taking in everything from the trampoline at the foot of Carly's bed to the ice-cream sandwich bench by the water table.

"Wow. Your, I mean, our, room is amazing!"

Carly, just coming through the door, laughed and said, "It should be. Spencer burned down my old room and used the insurance money to rebuild it. All the insurance money from an old watch with a diamond-encrusted bezel."

"I wish I had someone who loved me that much. I was an only child and Dad wasn't ever very good with the love thing."

Carly, a look of pity on her face, said, "I'm sorry. I thought everyone had someone that loved them like that. If life in Texas was that love-less for you, I'm glad that you ended up here with us."

Danica sniffed a little, then turned to Freddie and said, "Do you want to come down to the parking garage with me and get the rest of my clothes? There isn't much. But if the rest of you guys want to come see my car, that's fine with me."

As Danica walked out of the room, everyone followed. She had a long stride for her slight build, and when they got down to the lobby, she was already out the door. They went out to the parking garage, but she was no where in sight. Freddie said, "I'll go up to the second story. Sam, you go left. Carly, you go right. If you find her text the rest of us. Why in the world did she run off?"

Carly, a look of guilt on her face, said, "I think I might have offended her when I was talking about how Spencer rebuilt my room for me. I forgot that she had just told us her dad wasn't a very fun person to live with. I was a little insensitive. I didn't mean to be, but she seemed a little upset."

Sam gave Carly a little pat on the back and replied, "It's okay, Carls. Her dad, well, our dad, just died. She's going through a rough time. She's going to be a little sensitive. You can't remember when your mom died, just like she can't remember when hers died. But that ache you feel when you remember that your mom isn't around any more? Multiply that by like 16 years of having that person and then they are brutally ripped away. She might not even be upset about what you said. She's probably just a little sore from losing her dad."

"Wow, Sam. I didn't know that you could be so sensitive," Freddie remarked.

Sam glowered at him. "You may not realize it, but I love my family. I may not know her very well, but Danica is my sister. My little sister at that. And her pain is my pain."

Freddie flinched at the anger in Sam's eyes. "Ok. Let's just find her so we can help her out."

The three went their separate ways. It didn't take long for Sam to find her sister in one of the back corners of the parking garage. She was in a pearl-colored Escalade, slumped over the wheel. And, even though the doors were closed and the windows were up, Sam could tell that she was crying.

Sam walked up to the SUV and gently tapped on the window. Danica glanced up, saw it was Sam at her window, and quickly wiped the tears off of her face. She got out of the car, already apologizing. As Sam was sending Carly and Freddie a text that she had found her, Danica was saying, "I'm sorry I ran off like that. It's just… It still hurts. And seeing Carly so happy about Spencer's kindness… It brought back some memories about how inadequate my dad was in some areas. Please don't tell her that, though. I don't want her to feel guilty."

At that moment, Carly came jogging up, and Sam stopped the torrent of questions she could see forming on her best friends lips by saying, "I told you that she was just a little sore over her loss. But isn't this an awesome car? We don't have to worry about whether or not Spencer can give us a ride!"

Carly smiled, a look of apparent relief on her face. "Yeah, it is. Maybe we won't have to catch a cab to get to school on time any more! We can use that extra money to give Danica some gas money to take us places."

Danica smiled. "Only until I get a job. Then I won't mind taking y'all wherever you want. You are family, after all," she finished with a wink.

Freddie came loping up just then, a huge smile on his face. "Nice ride! So… Where's your stuff? Let's hurry up and get it inside. Spencer just text me and asked if I wan to go with you guys to the Cheesecake Warehouse to celebrate Danica moving in with you! He said he wants to welcome her into the family right."

Sam smiled her "thinking about food" smile. "Danica, you're gonna love this place. You think food is big in Texas? Wait till you see the servings at the Cheesecake Warehouse. Hey! Maybe I finally have someone that can match my eating skills! Let's grab your bags!"

Danica opened the back hatch, revealing three more bags of clothes and a nice computer bag. Freddie's face lit up. "What kind of computer do you have there?"

Danica smiled back. "Just a PearBook that I took the liberty of upgrading all the hardware. I do a little web design and editing stuff in my spare time. I hear you guys have a web cast? Maybe I can help."

"That would be great!" Freddie looked positively ecstatic. "I'm gonna need the help when school is back in session. Especially being senior year. AP classes out the wazoo. This couldn't get any better!"

The three girls each grabbed a bag of clothes while Freddie carried the computer like it was a child that he was never going to let anything come anywhere near. Danica locked the SUV, and they all headed up towards Carly's apartment. When they walked in, Spencer was sitting on the couch with Gibby.

"Hey guys! Danica, this is Gibby. Gibby, this is Danica. He came by to say hi, so I invited him to come with us! Go put Danica's stuff up in Carly's room, and we'll be ready to go!"

The four teenagers hurried up the stairs. Danica, Sam, and Carly just dropped the bags on the floor, while Freddie gently placed the computer on the couch. When they got down the stairs, Spencer grabbed his keys, when his face fell. "I just realized that my car only seats four. I'm sorry, Gibby. Looks like you can't come."

Danica stopped him, saying, "That's okay. We can take my car. I'll drive."

Sam, Carly, and Freddie started high-fiving, excited to be going for a ride in the luxury SUV.

**Review please. As one person has already learned, a good review means that I will ask you your opinion on something I may decide to put in the story line later on. If you want your voice heard, you have to review.**


	4. iGet To Know Her More

**Woo hoo! Longest chapter yet! Sorry it took so long. I had a bunch of scholarship applications due today. Hope you like it!**

The six arrived at the Cheesecake Warehouse about fifteen minutes later. Since Danica was driving, the decision was unanimous that Sam should ride up front with her sister. Spencer and Freddie rode in the second row bucket-seats, and Carly and Gibby rode in the third row with a seat to spare.

Spencer got out of the car excited. "I don't think that I've ever had that much leg room in a car! Riding in there was nothing like riding in that taxi in Japan… I wish all vehicles were that conscious of people over 5'10"."

Danica laughed. "Dad got the car because he was 6'3". He knew there would be a lot of nights where he would have to crawl into the back seat while I drove him home from the bar. He wanted to be comfortable while he tried no to puke after drowning his worries in whiskey."

"Dad was pretty tall, wasn't he?" The corner of Sam's mouth curled up a bit as she said this.

"Yep," was all Danica replied. Sam noticed the light leave her sister's eyes, and she quickly changed the subject to food.

"You have to see the salad's they have here. The bowl is bigger than Gibby's head, which is saying something."

Gibby glared at Sam, then laughed when he realized that what she was saying was true. "They are. Remember last time we were here? No one finished their food except for Sam. I wonder if they remember me here."

Gibby's question was quickly answered when they walked in the door and saw a large sign that read, "You must keep your shirt on at all times. You may not dance on the tables, either. We have the right to refuse service to anyone that does not abide by these rules. " Underneath the text was a large picture of Gibby, shirtless, dancing on a table.

Danica took one look at the picture and busted out laughing. "Looks like you guys have had some adventures here."

They walked up to the podium, and the woman standing there asked them, "Reservation?"

Spencer answered, "Shay, party of six. It should be near the top of the list. I just called about forty-five minutes ago."

"Yes. Here you are. Come with me."

The six followed to a table near the back where they promptly took their seats. Danica sat between Sam and Freddie, with Carly on Sam's left and next to Spencer, and Gibby sitting between Freddie and Spencer.

After they were all seated, the waiter came over and asked, "May I take your drink order?" There was a loud chorus for tea, water, and a chocolate milk for Gibby.

"Would you like to order now, or should I give you a minute?"

Spencer replied, "Just bring us six house specials."

The waiter then took their orders for what kinds of salads and cheesecakes they would like, then hurried off to retrieve their drinks. As they waited, Carly decided to get to know Danica a little better.

"So, Danica. What kinds of hobbies do you have?"

Danica thought for a minute, then said, "Well. You saw my guitar. I play music a lot. And I sing. I also play piano, but I couldn't fit my old upright in the back of the Escalade. Oh well. It was pretty beat-up any ways. Freddie pointed out my laptop. I do some editing stuff when I get the spare time. I also do some animation stuff. But I mostly record music. Music is one of the few things that completely relaxes me. I don't know where I would be without it."

Carly nodded her head and smiled. "I dabble in the musical arts every once in a while. Maybe we could write a song together one day."

Sam smiled. "Do you think I could help? I'm pretty good at rhyming."

"Sounds good. Sounds like a group project we can use to get to know each other a little better."

Just then, the waiter arrived with the first of the salads. The salads were so large that it took three waiters to get them all at once. Their waiter turned to Spencer saying, "Just call me over when you are ready for your dessert."

"Thank you, my good man," Spencer said with a small wave. Turning to the rest of the group, he smiled and said, "Let's eat!"

The first two finished were, of course, Sam and Danica. They were the only ones who finished their salads, let alone their slices of cheesecake as well. While the others waited on their to-go boxes, the sisters ad cleared a spot on the table and were arm-wrestling. Neither seemed to be making headway or giving up. Carly had her phone out, timing the two.

"You guys are at seven minutes already. Why don't we just call it a tie and head home? This full stomach is making me sleepy. And you still have to unpack, Danica."

The two released hands, Sam laughing. "Looks like I've finally met my match. It's nice to not be the only strong one any more. Benson over there has never stood a chance against me."

Danica looked over at Freddie. "Aw come on. You don't have to be so mean to the poor guy. If you had ever met Dad, you would realize that there is no possible way that anyone would ever be able to stand up to that kind of strength. Unless you were born with it. Dad was a brute. And a drunk brute at that. I once saw him lift a car to get a bag of chips he dropped."

When they reached the car, Sam asked Carly, "Can I stay at your house tonight? Mom said something about going to Mexico tonight to get a boob job. She might be gone for a week or two."

Carly looked back at her, a smile in her eyes. "Why do you even ask any more? It's stranger when you don't stay the night than when you do."

"Thanks, Carls."

Danica dropped Gibby off at his house, and the remaining five headed back to Bushwell. Freddie left them at the Shay's apartment door. "Good night, you guys. See you in the morning to discuss the next iCarly."

Once the others were inside the apartment, Carly turned to Sam. "Why don't you go help Danica get unpacked. I'm going to take a shower. I'll be there in a minute."

"Let's get you settled in," Sam said, already headed up the stairs.

"Right behind you, sis," was Danica's reply.

In Carly's room, the two girls started to unpack Danica's stuff. As Sam was unpacking a bag, she came across a framed photograph. It was of a tall black-haired man with startling blue eyes. His hair stood up every which way, a cowlick behind his right ear not unlike the one that Danica was subconsciously trying to smooth at that very moment. The woman in the photograph was unmistakably pregnant. She looked just like Danica, only her brown hair fell in loose ringlets down to her waist. The woman looked like this was the happiest moment of her life. The man looked like he was walking on eggshells,

"Is this Dad? And is that your mom?"

"Huh," Danica turned, catching sight of the old photograph. "Oh. Yeah. That was taken about three days before I was born. It's the last picture of my mom. Right after I was born, she got really sick. They didn't know what it was for a long time. When I was about four months old, she died. The autopsy revealed an aneurism in her brain. Apparently, the stress of having a child was too much for her. She never took any pictures after that one because she said she looked too horrible. Dad told me that she got really pale. And her hair got really dull. I think that she knew what he was going to do and was really stressed thinking about raising a child on her own. I think fear and stress is what really caused the aneurism."

Sam gently set the picture down on a shelf. "I think she was beautiful. And she looks just like you. Except for the hair. You got…"

"Dad's hair. I know. I fight his stupid cowlick every single day."

After they had unpacked her bags, Danica sat on the couch and pulled out her guitar. After a quick tuning, she just started to strum a few chords in a scale. Carly came in, smelling strongly of the fruity shampoo she used.

Carly started to hum a melody along with the guitar. Sam joined in, humming a slightly lower harmony. Then Danica started to sing.

"Forever in Your arms, I long to be.

Forever with my heart, it's You I seek.

No matter what they do,

No matter what they say,

I'll love You with

All of my heart

Every single day.

I'll give up every part of myself to be

Living in Your love for all eternity.

There's nothing that any one can say or do

To make me forget- forever I love You."

Carly and Sam just looked at Danica in amazement. Danica stopped strumming the guitar when she saw the looks on their faces.

"I didn't come up with that on the spot. It's a song that I had been working on for a while back home. I was writing it for my church. I could never find a melody to put it to, though. I heard you guys humming, and it just seemed to fit. So I tried it. I guess it worked."

"Uh, yeah," was all that Carly could say. "You're really talented. Hey… Do you want to be on iCarly? It doesn't have to be this week. It could be whenever. And you could do whatever song you want."

"If you really want me to, I guess."

Sam nodded. "Please? We haven't had any good, normal talents on the show in, well, ever. Everything we do is weird or Freddie has to work some technical magic to make it sound good."

"Ok. I'll do it next week."

Carly yawned and looked at the clock. "Awesome! Now I need to get some sleep."

Danica yawned, too. "Yeah. It's been a long day. Meeting a long-lost sibling, moving in with her best friend, eating food the size of my head… I'm bushed. I guess I'll talk to you guys in the morning. Night."

Carly was crawling into her bed while Sam sprawled out on the ice cream sandwich bench. "Night, Danica. Night, Sam. See you guys in the morning."

Sam was already snoring. Danica laid down, chuckling at her sister. "Just like sharing a room with Dad."

**So. How did you like the song Danica sang? And guess what… I came up with that on the spot! I just decided at the last minute to throw some guitar playing in there, and, presto! Lyrics pop in my head! They aren't the best ones I've ever written. And I'm sorry that you can't hear the tune in my head. Maybe one day I will play and sing what I heard and post it on youtube for my readers to listen to. Review, please, as always!**


	5. iFeel Her Pain

**First off, sorry if I replace a chapter and you go to it and you're like, "Nothing changed! This kid is out of their mind!" First off, I am out of my mind. Second off, I found a spelling error. I am a grammar Nazi and a spelling ninja. Sue me. **

**Anyways… I knew where I was headed with this chapter, but I didn't know how I was going to get there. But it happened. And I think I'm pretty happy with the results.**

Carly woke up the next morning to the sound of Sam snoring. Sam loved the summer holidays. She could sleep in as long as she wanted and go eat whenever she felt the urge. When they had taken their end-of-year exams two weeks before, you would have thought that Sam had won a million bucks when she found out that she had made the minimum grade to keep her from being put in summer school.

Carly glanced over at the couch, surprised to see it empty, the blanket Danica had been using neatly folded and placed on top of her pillow. Carly got out of bed, careful not to wake Sam. She stumbled out of her room and down the stairs to find Spencer on the couch eating blueberry waffles.

"Where did you get the waffles? And where's Danica?"

Spencer's mouth was too full to respond, but Danica replied form the kitchen, "I'm in here. I woke up early and decided to make waffles. Spencer smelled them and woke up. How many would you like?"

Carly was taken aback by a guest cooking breakfast for her. Then she remembered that Danica was more than a guest. "Two, I guess. You really didn't have to do that. I could've made breakfast. You had a long day yesterday."

Danica brought Carly a plate with two fresh waffles on it. "I'm used to it. If I wanted breakfast when I lived with my dad, I had to make it myself. Old habits die hard."

Carly took a bite out of her waffle, letting out a low moan. "These are delicious. Sam doesn't know what she's missing by sleeping in."

As if right on cue, Sam stumbled down the stairs. "I smell food."

As Carly and Spencer laughed, Danica asked her how many waffles she wanted.

"How many do you have?"

Danica laughed and handed over the remaining five waffles, having already eaten herself. "That was a dumb question for me to ask, wasn't it?"

Sam answered by attempting to fit half a waffle in her mouth at once.

As the others finished their food, Danica washed and put away the cooking utensils she had been using. She was already fully dressed, and when she put away the last mixing bowl, she grabbed her keys. "I'm headed to the store to buy a few things that I didn't pack. Do you guys need anything?"

Spencer yelled from the bathroom, "Pick up some more liquid soap. Gibby used all of mine."

"Ok. Anything else while I'm out?"

Carly shook her head, but Sam said, "Yeah. These food-deprived people are out of Fat Cakes. Could you get me some?"

"Sure thing, sis. I'll be back in a few."

When Danica was out of the apartment, Carly looked at Sam. "I think you may actually have someone that is somewhat normal in your family. It's a pleasant surprise."

"Tell me about it."

About and hour later, Danica returned, laden down with bags of shampoo, toothpaste, liquid soap, and Fat Cakes. Freddie was already over, and the iCarly trio were discussing the next show.

"There she is. I was just telling Freddie about your guitar playing last night, and how you agreed to come on the show. We can work you into tomorrows web cast, if you feel comfortable." Carly seemed as if she was going to burst with excitement over the thought of having a good live performance on the show. At least, one that wasn't professional and there on a favor to her brother.

"Absolutely. All I need is to figure out what song I'm going to do."

Sam jumped up. "Let's go upstairs and work on that, while we leave the two killjoys down here to finish planning. They shot down my idea of shaving Gibby's back, using tomato sauce instead of shaving cream."

Carly piped up, "You said you wanted to use a dull butcher knife instead of a razor."

"Yeah. That just adds to the fun," Sam replied, a look of surprise on her face because Carly didn't agree with her definition of fun.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just go help your sister pick out a song. We can handle this."

Danica and Sam traipsed up the stairs to Carly's bedroom, discussing songs the whole way.

"I don't want to do anything too fast. I like the way slower songs sound on an acoustic guitar."

"Ok. So that narrows it down." Sam pulled out her phone to look up acoustic versions of slow songs, but she ran into the couch and dropped her phone. Danica instinctively reached out with her right hand to catch it. As she caught it, the sleeve of her jacket came up a fraction revealing white underneath.

"What is that?" Sam asked, a tone of worry in her voice.

Danica sat down on the couch, pulling her sleeve down as she went. "It's nothing. So do you have any ideas?"

"That's not nothing. I've been hurt enough times to know gauze when I see it. Why do you have gauze around your wrist?"

"I told you it's no-thing." Try as she may, Danica couldn't keep the hitch out of her voice.

Sam sat down next to her sister, taking her hand. Danica flinched, but she didn't pull away. She just allowed Sam to pull up the sleeve of her jacket, revealing a thick padding of white gauze taped around her wrist. Above the gauze, Sam made out faint pink scars, each one perfectly parallel. Some of them had healed on their own, but others had been so deep that they had needed stitches.

"Danica… Why?"

"It's a long story. Can we just pick a song?"

But Sam caught the underlying tone of pain in the girl's voice, and she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "No. We can't. You're hurt. And I need to know why."

"Are you absolutely sure you want to know?" Danica's voice was starting to get husky, and when Sam looked up at her face, Danica had large tears rolling down her cheeks.

Sam reached up with a gentle hand and wiped away the tears. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure I'm sure. You are my little sister. And I want to know who or what hurt you this bad," she said in a soothing tone, hiding the anger she could feel bubbling up inside her at the sight of the outward wounds reflecting the inward anguish.

Danica took a few steadying breaths, during which she tried to decide just how to say this. She decided that being direct was the best way possible. "Sam, about two years ago… Dad raped me."

Danica started sobbing uncontrollably. Sam released her hand, then reached up around her neck to embrace her. Danica bawled into Sam's shoulder for a while, and Sam just let her cry herself out. When Danica was finished crying, Sam sat back.

Trying unsuccessfully to control her rage, Sam said, "If he wasn't already dead, I'd go to Texas and kill him myself. No one should ever do that. Especially not to a fourteen-year-old. Just answer this: What exactly led to you cutting?"

Danica thought for a second, then said, "The morning after he raped me, he took me to the hospital. I got the morning after pill. I told them that some random guy on the street did it to me. I thought that Dad was truly sorry for what he did. He had come home in a drunken rage the night before, and I thought that maybe he didn't really realize what he was doing. About a week later, I was doing dishes. I knocked a cup over, and it broke. Dad was drunk again, and he was pretty mad. He came at me with a beer bottle. He was going to break it over my head, but I put my arm up. That's how I got this." She pulled her left sleeve up past the elbow, revealing a long scar that ran the entire length of her forearm. It was really deep, and Sam could see dozens of little dots indicating where it had been closed with stitches. At the sight of it, Sam actually growled.

Sam was no longer even trying to contain the fury she felt against the man that had ran out on her, her mom, and her twin. Especially now that she knew what a monster he had to have been to hurt someone with such a pure heart as Danica's. "He's lucky I can't make him pay for this."

Danica just forged on with her story, ignoring the interruption. It felt good to finally talk about it. "This time when we went to the hospital, I didn't tell because I was scared. This was the second time he had hurt me in such a short time that I was afraid he would strike me in front of everybody if I told the truth. I told the doctors that I was taking out the garbage and a broken jar cut me while I was putting the bag out by the curb. As I was being stitched up, I realized that the physical pain of my arm being gashed open made me forget what had happened the week before. At least for a brief time. When we got home from the hospital, Dad went on a rampage. He said that I looked like I was going to tell on him. So he was going to teach me a lesson. So he raped me again. But this time, he used a condom so I wouldn't have to go back to the hospital to get the morning after pill. He knew it would be too suspicious. I felt so… dirty. And broken. But I remembered how easy it was to ignore the emotional pain when there was fresh physical pain to be felt. That's when I started to cut. This last one is from the day before Dad died. I did it because I was scared that he was going to somehow blame me for what was happening to him. I was afraid that he was going to hurt me again."

There were fresh tears streaming down her face as she took her glasses off and put her head in her hands. Sam put her arm around her, and Danica leaned in to her older sister's chest, letting her tears soak the front of Sam's shirt.

They had been sitting like that for a while, when Carly came in. "Freddie and I finished planning the skits. Have you guys decided-" Carly trailed off as she saw Danica sobbing into Sam's chest. She was even more shocked by the tears dripping from Sam's chin into her sister's hair. Tears of sorrow and rage. Sam relayed what Danica had told her in hushed tones, and Carly started to cry as well. Carly sat on Danica's other side, resting a reassuring hand on her back.

After a few minutes, Danica stopped shaking as bad. She eventually sat up, wiping her face and putting her glasses back on.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess. I've never told anyone. Not even my pastors back home. It feels better to get that off my chest. And I think I know what song I want to do tomorrow night. I want to do Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. I want to dedicate it to everyone who's been abused."

Sam smiled, wiping one last tear from her cheek. "I think that's an excellent idea, Danica. I think that's something that neither Carly nor I have ever thought about. Maybe you singing that song and sharing a little bit of your testimony will encourage some of our viewers to speak up."

Carly immediately agreed. "We can add a button to the website just for the next week. We can make it to where the viewers can post their story without signing in. Unless they want to. It can be completely anonymous."

Danica smiled. "Anything that may possibly help someone in a situation like the one I've been in, I will gladly do. I'm proud to be their voice."

Carly smiled a sad smile. "I'm sorry that you've been through so much. I guess I better text Freddie and tell him the details of what he needs to add to the home page. You don't mind if I tell him, right?"

"Go ahead and tell him. He would know at least part of my story by the end of tomorrow night, anyway."

"I won't tell him everything. That's your place. I'll just tell him what he absolutely needs to know right now."

"Thank you, Carly. You're a good friend," Danica said, smiling up at the older girl.

**Sorry if you cried. I teared up a bit while writing it. I've never been through this exactly, but something close. I hope you enjoyed. Please review or PM me or something. I have some ideas, but they are in the somewhat distant future of this fic. If you want to help, this will be a big chance for you to get your ideas heard and put in the story. **


	6. iHear Her Perform

**Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. I could make some lame excuses. But I've been sick and lazy for a week and a half. So I really didn't feel like writing. But I made myself post today.**

The next day was a blur of action. Danica spent the first few hours of the day memorizing exactly how she was going to perform. When she was done with that, she helped Freddie set up the sound equipment for optimum quality in the iCarly studio. Sam and Carly spent the day buying random food items to play "How Many Of These Can Gibby Fit In His Mouth."

While working in close quarters with Danica, Freddie seemed skittish. Danica called him out on it.

"You seem to be avoiding me."

"Hmm? Oh, uh, no, I'm not avoiding you. It's just that I had my antibacterial bath this morning and I'm trying to let it soak in before I come into contact with anyone."

Danica just looked at him, one eyebrow raised, a half-smirk on her face. "You are a bad liar. You forget who my dad is. I know when someone is lying. If I didn't know how to tell when someone was lying, I would still believe that when Dad disappeared for days at a time, he was being called out on secret missions for the government. He was more convincing than you are."

Freddie recoiled from Danica's observation. "You want the truth? I want to make sure that I don't hurt you in any way, shape, form, or fashion. I've heard that a lot of girls that have been, you know, develop a distrust of males. A lot of them can't even stand to be touched by a male because it causes them emotional pain. I don't want to accidentally do that."

Danica rolled her eyes. "Do you think I would be in this room alone with you if I couldn't stand being around a guy? I know that you won't do anything to me. I trust you. If Carly and Sam trust you, that's all I need. I'm not going to be set off at the slightest jolt. You don't have to walk on eggshells around me."

Freddie visibly relaxed. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess if you were that afraid of men, you would have run out screaming when I shut the door behind us."

"It's ok. At least you were being considerate of my well-being."

They spent the rest of their time working together in silence, except for the occasional request to be handed a tool off of the tech cart.

After everything was set up in the studio, Freddie and Danica went back down to the living room. Sam and Carly were in there, discussing what they had bought.

"I think Gibby could fit at least twelve jumbo marshmallows in his mouth."

"Are you kidding me? That shirtless freak probably can't fit more than six."

"He doesn't take his shirt off that often any more. And you forget how much he has grown in the past few years."

"Ok. I'll give him ten then."

Danica cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Hey, D," Sam answered. "How about we hit the Groovy Smoothie before the show? You have to try the Strawberry Splat."

"Sure. We have some time to kill."

When the four reached the Groovy Smoothie, Gibby was already there, sitting at a table, practicing stuffing marshmallows in his mouth. As they passed, Carly asked how many he had in his mouth right then. His mouth was too full to answer, so T-Bo yelled from behind the counter, "He's got thirteen in there. Who's your friend?" he said, gesturing towards Danica.

"I'm Sam's younger sister, Danica. I just moved here from Texas."

T-Bo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Sam, I didn't know you had another sister."

"Neither did I. That is, until two days ago."

"Well, Danica, since this is your first time here, I'll give you a special discount. Twenty cents off of the purchase of three smoothies."

Danica looked at him the same way she had looked at Freddie earlier that day. "Well, I was buying four any way. May as well get twenty cents off."

"If you're buying four, the discount is invalid."

Danica looked taken aback, but Freddie said, "That's all right. I'll buy my own. You buy the three for you guys so you can get the discount."

"Thanks, Freddie."

"Don't mention it. I'll just hit you up for double next time."

This time, Danica raised both of her eyebrows. "How about I keep Sam from killing you and we call it even?"

Freddie cringed. "I'll take that. Sometimes I forget that you're Sam's sister, but then you go and say something like that. At least you don't threaten to harm me yourself. You just threaten to let me be harmed by someone else," he said, glaring pointedly at Sam as she said this.

Sam shrugged. "Just pay for your smoothie and get out of our way. We have a show to put on."

After paying for and receiving their smoothies, the four headed back across the street to Bushwell Plaza with Gibby in tow.

"Thanks for recommending the Strawberry Splat. It was delicious. I'll see you guys in the studio. I'm gonna go get changed." Danica ran up the staircase two at a time, up to Carly's room.

Sam looked a little worried. "I'll go see what she's going to wear," she said, already headed up the stairs.

Sam knocked on thee door to Carly and Danica's room. "Come in."

Danica had already changed into a purple plaid button-up top with a white undershirt peeking out from underneath. When Sam walked in, she was changing the gauze on her wrist, leaving a thinner layer than what she had before. This, she covered with a leather bracelet, of which she wore a matching one on her other arm. Danica saw the look of worry pass from her sister's face.

"You can't even tell it's there, can you?"

Sam smiled at the younger girl. "Nope. I was afraid that you were going to leave it exposed. I didn't tell Carly or Freddie. I didn't want them to just suddenly see it and ask me why I didn't tell them. I wanted to respect your privacy, but they don't get that sometimes. We've known each other for so long that we all know nearly everything there is to know about one another. They're just used to me telling them everything."

"Nah. I figured that there's no need to worry them. I don't care if they see my scars. They'll just think that it's a thing of the past. I go to get the stitches out tomorrow. After that, it's good and over with. They don't need to know anything. Without Dad around, I'm not gonna do it any more, so why freak them out now?"

"Yeah. So are you ready? Not as in dressed. I mean, are you ready to perform in front of thousands of viewers?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Sam smiled. "Let's head up to the studio, then, before the tech dweeb starts to freak out."

"Why do you pick on him so bad?"

"I really don't know… Maybe because he lets me."

"He only lets you because he's scared of you. I've seen the look on his face after you insult him. I think it hurts him."

"Huh… I've never noticed. I might make an effort to slow it down a bit."

"If you do, you might find that y'all can get more things done. If he's running away all the time it's hard to accomplish anything."

The sisters had arrived at the door of the iCarly studio. When they walked in, Danica headed to the small green room behind the curtain, where her guitar waited. The show was starting in ten minutes.

"You've got this, D. No need to worry."

After repeating her mantra a few times, Danica heard her cue to come out. She grabbed her guitar and a stool and headed to the center of the studio. After she sat down, she arranged the microphones so they were directly in front of her mouth and her guitar.

"Hey, guys. If you haven't figured it out yet, my name is Danica. I'm Sam's younger sister. Tonight, I'm going to sing a song that is near and dear to my heart. For everyone out there that has ever been abused in any way, like me, this is Concrete Angel by Martina McBride."

She positioned a capo on her guitar, then began to play. Then, she sang.

_She walks to school with the lunch she packed_

_Nobody knows what she's holding back…_

As she sang, she closed her eyes. As she sang, unseen to her, Carly was crying and Freddie was breathing hard. Unseen by either of them, Sam slipped out into the hall and closed the door behind her, so no one would see the tears streaming down her cheeks. After wiping her eyes, Sam ran down the stairs.

After the final chord had rung out to its fullest extent, Danica smiled at the camera, her own eyes wet.

"And, we're clear," Freddie announced.

Carly wiped the tears off of her face. "That was great. We told the viewers about the button on the website. They are bound to respond after that performance. What do you think, Sam? Sam?" Carly looked around. "Where did Sam go?"

Freddie laughed. "She probably slipped out as soon as she wasn't needed to go downstairs and eat."

Danica smiled. "That would sound about right. How about we join her? I could use something to eat myself. I was too nervous to eat much earlier."

"Sure. I can check the response to the new button on the downstairs computer," Freddie said, heading for the door.

The three headed downstairs to find Sam on the couch with a can of chili.

"If you put down the chili, I'll make some lasagna. And a pie for dessert," Danica said, laughing as Sam nearly spilled her chili in an effort to put it down as quickly as possible.

"Hey, guys. I Just checked the response to the button. We already have 37 anonymous stories and 70 with a username! It was a hit! Danica, I think you really encouraged people to share what happened to them. This girl here… She was sexually abused by an uncle. And this guy was physically abused by his father. Wow… It's amazing how many of our viewers have struggled with abuse. And the numbers are still climbing."

Danica smiled a sad smile. "You would be surprised what some people have been through." As Danica turned back around and headed to the fridge to grab the tomato sauce, unseen by anyone but Sam, she ran her finger across the leather cuff on her injured wrist. "You would be surprised."

**And there we go. So? How did you like it? Because of today's date, I am dedicating this chapter to my cousin. She passed away four months ago today after a year-long battle with melanoma. She left behind a husband of five years and a daughter that just turned one on Christmas. She would write for fun. Of course, any librarian and English teacher worth their salt generally does. Message me if you want to know more about this story or if you just wanna chat.**


	7. iFind Out The Truth

**Sorry it took me so long to write another chapter. Life's just been really hectic. Getting ready for graduation, prom… the list goes on and on. I've actually been having some health problems. I've almost ended up in the hospital a few times, and a couple times I seriously thought that I was going to die. Even now I am getting over the remnants of a possible concussion, so please excuse any possible grammar and spelling mistakes. Even someone that is graduating third in their class is entitled to mistakes with a brain injury. I hope you enjoy.**

When Carly woke up the next morning, once again, Danica was gone. She left Sam curled up at the foot of the bed and headed downstairs. This time, however, no one was there. She looked on the counter and saw that Danica's keys were gone, along with Spencer's. Spencer had said something the night before about starting to work out in the mornings so he could catch the eye of this really pretty trainer at the gym. Carly assumed that Danica had some other errands that she needed to run.

So Carly decided to make breakfast. She made a large stack of pancakes and bacon, knowing that if Danica hadn't eaten already, she was going to need a lot of food once she got home. She had already proven that she could keep up with Sam, who needed an extra three servings herself. And she had a feeling that Freddie would be over bright and early this morning, hoping to get a look at Danica's laptop.

When the last pack of bacon hit the skillet, movement could be heard upstairs. A disheveled Sam appeared on the stairs, seemingly guided by only her nose.

"Bacon. I smell bacon. Give me bacon."

"Slow down. Have some pancakes, too."

Sam opened her eyes enough to grab four pancakes and a handful of bacon and stumble to the table, where she plopped a big slab of butter on the top pancake and drowned them in syrup. When she was about halfway through with her food, Danica walked in the door, with Freddie trailing behind her, and immediately said, "That's not how you fix pancakes. You're supposed to melt the butter into the syrup. It makes the syrup thinner so it soaks in better, and it makes the butter spread all the way through."

Sam turned around and laughed at her sister, shooting a quick glance at her wrist.

Danica saw the movement and reached up with her right hand to readjust her glasses, purposely exposing her wrist, and winked at her sister. There was a line across her wrist that was just slightly darker than the other faint lines that Sam knew were higher up on her sister's arm, but couldn't be seen from that distance.

"Just kidding with you. Did you save any for me?"

Carly piped up, "She sure did. I made sure of it. Do you want me to melt you some butter into some syrup?"

"Sure. If it isn't too much trouble, that is."

"No problem. You made waffles yesterday. Just returning the favor."

Danica reached for the plate Carly offered her with her left hand, exposing the scar that ran the length of her forearm. Carly frowned at the sight of it.

"What happened there?"

"Oh, that little thing? Just an accident from a couple years ago. No biggie. Just needed a ton of external stitches and quite a few internal stitches to keep me from bleeding out. This scar is the main reason I wear a jacket. I hardly ever get cold, but I tend to want to cover it. It keeps people from asking about it."

"Oh. OK," was Carly's reply, and she went back to the bacon, easily satisfied by the vague answer that Danica had given, and catching the hint that it wasn't a topic that was up for discussion.

Sam smiled at Danica. A smile that never reached her eyes at the thought of what had actually caused the scar.

"Hey, D. I was thinking, you really need to meet our other sister, Melanie. I think you two would get along. She's smart. I can call her, if you want. She can come visit for a day or so. At least until she goes back to private school."

"That's OK with me. As long as it doesn't put Carly out or anything. And as long as you don't mind, Sam. If you don't want her around, it's no big deal. I've gone my whole life without siblings. I can survive without meeting her right away," Danica said, looking a little worried at the thought of meeting someone else new.

"It's fine with me," Carly said, "I need a girly shopping partner for a change."

"Yeah, and I need to see her at least once a year to keep mom happy. Plus it reminds me of all the qualities I strive to stay away from."

Freddie laughed. "Yeah, I don't know how you two came from the same egg."

Danica smiled. "OK. I guess it will be easier to get all of this meeting stuff over with as fast as possible. I'm not too fond of meeting new people."

"Well she only acts like a new person. She looks exactly like me, only she dresses in more pink. So it's only like meeting half of a new person," Sam said, smirking at her wit.

"Man, you sure did get dad's sense of humor," Danica said, smiling at her sister. "So why don't you call this half-person so I know how long I have to prepare myself for an introduction. Then we can go work on some music or something."

"Sounds good to me," Carly said, putting the dishes in the sink. "The phones right there on the counter, Sam. Come up when you're finished."

Carly, Freddie, and Danica headed up to the studio, stopping in Carly's room to get Danica's guitar and computer.

"Ok. Just let me open a new document to type up any lyrics we come up with, and hook up this microphone so I can record any chords I come up with and we will be good to go."

As Danica was setting up her equipment, Freddie was practically drooling over her shoulder as he saw the programs she had. "You have the newest versions of all the software I have and then some!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of a tech geek," Danica replied as Sam came running through the door of the studio.

"She said that she will be here in 10. She was on her way home and decided to come by here when I told her that Mom was out of town."

"Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to get anything done here. At least not in 10 minutes. If you want to mess around with some of my programs, Freddie, you're welcome to it. Just don't mess with any of my preferences."

Freddie's jaw dropped in amazement at her words. "Of course! I wouldn't do anything to risk not getting to use your computer again."

Danica, Sam, and Carly went back downstairs to find a crestfallen Spencer in workout clothes with a plate of fudge on his lap.

"What's the matter Spence?" Carly asked, looking worried.

"That hot trainer at the gym is married. She just doesn't wear her ring while on the job because she's afraid she might bend it. I saw her taking it off when I got there and I asked her about it. Her husband had it specially made for her," Spencer replied, shoveling fudge into his mouth.

"You'll find someone someday, Spence. Someone that you don't have to pretend to like something that you don't for," Danica said as she sat beside him on the couch.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Carly opened it to reveal a girl that looked like a carbon copy of Sam, only with a high pony tail and a pink skirt matched with a white sweater, even though it was the middle of summer.

"Hi Carly, hi Sam! And you must be Danica! Sam told me all about you and our dad. Sorry to hear that he died. But it's good to meet you! I just know that we are going to get along just great!"

"Wow, Sam. You were right. You guys don't seem to share anything but your looks," Danica said, looking between the twins with a look of surprise on her face. "I never knew that two people that looked so much alike could be so different."

"Well that's us. Two identical peas that came from the same pod, but taste very different. I'm sweet and buttery, while Sam here is dry and bitter."

"I wouldn't call her dry and bitter. She's actually been very nice to me since I've been here. She's actually one of the nicest people that I've ever had the pleasure of coming in contact with," Danica replied, a glint of anger in her eyes at Melanie for insulting their sister that way after everything Sam had done for her. "Actually, after that remark, I would say that you are the one that is dry and bitter. After all, you don't seem to realize that your sister has most likely changed since you were both annoying little children, and you seem to hold some sort of grudge against her. You know, unforgiveness is the poison that you drink every day, hoping for the other person to die. It holds you back and ruins your life, while they go on living happily. That will make you bitter."

"Wow, Danica. I don't think that anyone has ever stood up for me like that. Especially to Melanie. She's always been Mom's favorite."

Melanie looked like someone had hit her in the stomach. "I never thought about it like that. Wow, Danica. You're really good. You should really think about going into counseling or something."

"I just speak from experience. I just wish that I would have learned sooner than I did. When Dad died, I realized that you have to forgive someone as soon as you can, or you may never get the chance," Danica said, choking up a little at her own words.

At that moment, Carly piped up. "Maybe this was a little too much too soon for Danica. Melanie, why don't you head over to your house. Keep a watch over it while your mom is gone. I'll call you later when Danica has had a chance to settle in a little more and she's less likely to get overwhelmed."

"Sure. Bye, guys. Tell Freddie I said hi," Melanie said as she left the apartment.

When she was gone, Danica went up the stairs. Sam and Carly followed her to find her sitting on the couch in Carly's room crying.

"You guys must think that I'm a big crybaby. Truth be told, I think I'm a big crybaby. I never used to cry before Dad died. I used to bottle it all up. I guess that's why I cry so much now."

Sam sat next to her sister and grabbed her hand. "That's OK. We all need to cry every once in a while. What's wrong this time?"

Danica sniffled, then blurted, "I never told Dad that I forgave him!" She started crying even harder than she was before, making Carly look worried. She mouthed the word "what" at Sam, but Sam just waved her off.

"Danica, I think it's time to tell Carly everything."

"OK. But you do it. And get Freddie in here, too. May as well do it all at once."

**Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, if you have any ideas leave them in a comment or PM me. Without ideas, I can't write, and with the massive headache that comes with slamming your head into a car door and taking a full water bottle to the temple, I'm having a hard time with coming up with ideas for myself. Thank you! Oh, and P.S. For those of you that haven't figured that out yet, the chapter titles are from Carly's point of view, even though the story title is from Sam's.**


	8. iThink He's Starting to Like Her

**I know it has been a really long time since I updated. I hope none of you think I died. I almost did something really stupid, but I didn't. I had a really rough time emotionally this past year. I had to finally tell my parents something that I hadn't told anyone for like 12 years. Things have settled down quite a bit now. I hope to write as much as possible while I'm on Summer Break from college, but I now have two original works going as well. So I can't promise anything.**

Danica sat on the floor at Sam's feet with her head resting on her sister's knee as Sam wrapped up telling Carly and Freddie everything the younger girl had revealed to her. Danica's eyes were closed, with an occasional tear seeping from between the lids, as Sam absentmindedly stroked the younger girl's hair. Carly was very openly crying, while Freddie was angrily pacing the room.

"I really don't get how someone could be so cruel as to take a young girl's innocence. I'm glad he's already dead, or I would be on my way to prison soon," Freddie growled under his breath as he sat down on Carly's bed.

Carly wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her shirt and said with a shaky voice, "I'm really sorry you had to go through that. No one should ever have to deal with that much pain. Especially not at such a young age and caused by someone as close to you as your father. I wish I could give you more than just an apology. If I could go back in time and stop him, I would. Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us what happened. I think I speak for all of us when I say we will all be here for you if you need us, and we will do whatever it takes to get you through this."

It took Danica a few minutes to be able to sit up and coherently respond. "Thank you guys so much. I've never trusted anyone enough to tell them all of this. I guess getting away from everyone that was around at the time and not having the threat of Dad finding out I told looming over my head made me realize it was time to let someone in on my biggest secret. You guys really seem to care, so it was really easy to convince myself that it was okay to tell y'all."

Sam stopped stroking her sister's hair and pulled her up to sit on the couch next to her. "I'm glad you told me. You are my flesh and blood and I want to know everything about you, good or bad. I will always be your older sister no matter what, and I want to be there for you. I love you, Danica, and I would protect you with my life. Don't tell my mom this, but I would probably save you over Melanie any day."

Danica managed a small chuckle at the joke Sam made. "That really means a lot to me. After growing up feeling unwanted, this is a nice change of pace."

Freddie stopped growling violent forms of punishment under his breath and sat up, the look of anger that was on his face moments before changing to one of concern for the girl that was so much like Sam that was very visibly broken. "Well, you're wanted here. You haven't been here long, but you are already part of the group. It takes more than a troubled past to scare us off. All three of us have our scars. They may not be as deep as yours, or in some cases as visible, but we all have our baggage."

"Yeah," Carly piped up. "My mom died when I was two. So I don't remember her really well. My dad is in the Air Force, so I never really get to see him. Spencer pretty much raised me. That has made my teenage years really interesting. Just last week he tried to explain the birds and the bees to me. That was torture for the both of us."

"Mom isn't the best parent. Ever since I met Carly and started hanging out over here a lot, she just leaves the country for cheap plastic surgery all the time. Since Melanie is away at boarding school and I am hardly ever home, she just doesn't care and runs off," Sam chimed in. "Speaking of Melanie, she made my life a living hell when we were little. She used to get away with everything because she was older by a few minutes. She could do whatever she wanted and blame it on me because I was just the bratty little sister, and mom believed her."

"Ever since my dad died, my mom has been an overbearing freak. These guys and iCarly are my only refuge from her crazy grasp." Freddie choked up a little, concerning Sam and Carly. They knew Freddie's dad was a tender subject that he didn't just talk to anyone about. As a matter of fact, they were pretty sure Freddie had never told anyone else besides the two of them about what had really happened. Everyone else at school, except for the counselors and the rest of the faculty, just knew that Freddie only lived with his mom. The faculty was nice enough never to mention Freddie's dad to the other students, knowing it would be a breach of privacy that would have his mom at the school in a heartbeat.

"I don't want to cross any lines here since it seems to be a sore subject, but how exactly did your dad die?" Danica looked incredibly concerned, forgetting for a moment her own problems because she saw someone else hurting. It was in her nature to hurt more for the pain of others than for herself.

"About ten years ago, while my dad was taking me to school, we were in a bad car accident. My dad and I were both hurt. I had some internal bleeding caused by the seatbelt tightening really fast around my waist. I was rushed into surgery and was fine after that. My dad was a little worse off than me. The car that hit us hit directly on his door. He leg was shattered and pinned between the door and the steering column. He was also cut up pretty bad from all the glass that shattered and fell straight into his lap. Luckily, the airbag knocked him unconscious, so he wasn't feeling any pain. By the time they got him to the hospital, there was no way they were going to be able to save his leg. So they amputated it. He was fine for a few weeks. We were both making a good recovery. Then Dad started to get really sick all of a sudden. It turned out that his stump was infected. By the time they caught it, it was too late. The infection had spread too far. He died a few days later. That's why my mom is so adamant about everything being clean and disinfected."

When Freddie finished his story, the three girls looked up to see tears in his eyes. The only time Sam and Carly ever saw him cry was when he talked about his dad.

Danica stood up from the couch and went to sit by Freddie on the bed. She gave him one of those awkward side-hugs and asked, "Were you really close to your dad?"

"Yeah," Freddie answered, leaning into Danica's hug a little more. "He bought me my first video camera, computer, and editing software. Filmography was a hobby of his that he really wanted to share with me."

"That's big. I wish my dad had done something like that. I had to work to buy all my own stuff to start with. Then I got certified in a few things and started making money designing websites. I used that to do all my upgrades and whatnot. I'm really sorry you had to go through that. No one deserves that. Especially not someone that is as kind as you."

"Thanks, Dani. Can I call you Dani?"

"No one has before, but I don't see why not. People usually call me Dee when they get tired of saying my full name. But I like the way Dani sounds," Danica replied, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Freddie let slip a grin in return.

Sam and Carly made eye contact, the expressions on their faces asking the same question. Was something going to form between those two? They did seem to have a lot in common. Both of them were incredibly smart with an affinity for computers. Maybe Danica was just the person Freddie needed to make him stop fawning over Carly.

Sam's stomach, with its usual wonderful timing, let out a loud growl that made the other three look at her.

"What? My stomach knows no emotion. It just knows when it's empty and lets me know it's time to fill it up. Maybe we should get cleaned up and go grab lunch somewhere. Somewhere in walking distance to save gas and let the cool air clear our heads."

"All right," Danica answered. "I could use some food. I'm one of those strange people that get hungry after a good cry. Just give me a few minutes to wash my face with some cool water, and I'll be ready to go."

Carly and Freddie both agreed that getting lunch was a good idea. While Freddie ran across the hall to grab his wallet, the girls washed up and got ready to go.

"There's this new taco place a few blocks over that Spencer and I found last week. They don't have spaghetti tacos, but they do have some pretty good regular tacos if that sounds all right to you guys," Carly suggested when they met Freddie outside his apartment door. No one protested, so the four headed off to Tiny Tony's Taco Emporium.

By the time the four got back to Bushwell, it was like their earlier conversation had never happened. When Carly unlocked the door to her apartment, Freddie stormed up the stairs to grab his laptop off of his tech cart so he could go back to his apartment.

"Ah, come on Freddie! I was only kidding about your head being shaped just like one of Tiny Tony's burritos. You don't have to get so angry that you leave us here!" Sam called up the stairs after him.

When he came storming down the stairs, Danica headed him off. "Really, Freddie, there's no need to leave. As a matter of fact, come and talk to me in the hall a second. Leave your laptop here. If you're still mad at Sam after we talk, I'll come back in here and get it for you so you don't have to see her."

Freddie mumbled under his breath and followed Danica out into the hall.

"Look, Freddie. Sam only picks on you because she's jealous. She never knew our dad. You had a loving relationship with yours. You may think your mom cares too much, but hers doesn't seem to care at all. I know it stings when she teases you, but try and cut her a little slack. She doesn't know any other way to deal with her jealousy than to lash out at the people that make her jealous.

"I saw a lot of this back home. I volunteered at a youth home in my area. Some of the kids had it pretty rough growing up. They only saw the fake smile I put on to make it through my day. So they were jealous. Some of them got pretty mean. I learned to just smile through it and show them the love they needed. Just do some simple things for Sam. One of the things I used to do would be when we took the kids for a group outing, I would stick close to one of the ones that had a tendency of lashing out. When it was time to pay for something, I would make sure I had my money out before they did and I would cover them. After I did something small for them a few times, I would find them apologizing to me and confiding in me. You should try it some time. You may learn some stuff about Sam that you never knew was there."

Freddie just stood there slack-jawed for a few minutes, Danica staring at him with one eyebrow raised. "I never thought about that. I just thought about how mean Sam was being in the moment and got angry. How do you have such a level head in these types of situations? You should go into counseling. I think you could be an excellent counselor. You seem to be able to see exactly what's going on in someone's head and know just how to help. Thank you for making me realize what was going on. I'm definitely not mad now."

"Good. Let's get back inside so we can hang out and you can start looking for ways to win Sam over."

The two walked back into Carly's apartment, much to Sam and Carly's surprise.

"I thought you were mad at me about the burrito comment," Sam remarked, a look of confusion on her face.

"Dani made me realize it was stupid to get mad over something as petty as saying my head looked like Mexican food. Do you guys want to watch 'Celebrities Underwater'? There's a marathon on right now that's supposed to last until tomorrow afternoon. We can stay up all night and eat ice cream. My mom's out of town again for an extreme parenting conference."

"That sounds good to me, only Spencer ate all the ice cream when the fudge ran out. We'll have to settle for something else or go get more ice cream," was Carly's reply.

"I can run to the store and get some more. I can get some other snacks as well. What flavor of ice cream should I get, Sam?"

Freddie's question caught Sam off guard. "Uh… Mint chocolate chip, I guess. It's my favorite."

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm just going to run to the store down the block."

Freddie left, leaving the three girls alone. Carly and Sam were baffled. Danica just laughed at the looks on their faces.

"Sometimes, you just have to point out to people some things that you think would be obvious. Then their whole outlook on a situation may change. I just made Freddie realize why Sam picks on him. Now he isn't so angry about the burrito comment, and he's a little more understanding about everything else."

"That takes all the fun out of picking on him, though," Sam replied, a surly look on her face.

"I wouldn't complain. He seems to be being nicer to you than he was when I first got here. When I first showed up, he probably would've asked Carly what flavor of ice cream she wanted and completely ignored you. Now he asked you and ignored Carly. You may be able to expect some more respect from Freddie from now on."

About fifteen minutes later, Freddie came back, laden down with bags of groceries.

"I got a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream, three different kinds of chips, a bag of beef-jerky each for Sam and Dani, two tubs of cookie dough so we can bake cookies and eat the raw dough, a bag of gummy bears for Carly, and a bag of miniature chocolate bars for myself. I don't mind sharing if y'all don't mind sharing."

"Uh, Freddie…" Carly said, trying to hold back a giggle.

"What?" Freddie asked, looking confused as to what could be so funny.

"I think you may be hanging out with Dani too much. You just said y'all."

"Did I? Oh well. I don't really care. Now who wants to help me get some cookies into the oven?"

"I'll do it," Dani piped up.

"I'm going to start working on the ice cream and the beef-jerky," Sam said, turning the television to the right channel. "I think this is going to be a good night."

**Since I have two original works going, I am going to need some reviews or PMs as motivation to keep this going. I have some really emotional stuff planned, but if you want it sooner rather than later, I am going to need to see that you really want it. Or else I am going to just focus all my creativity into my original pieces. So what are you waiting for? Show me you want it!**


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